


The Twins AU

by CottonCandyCloud142



Series: Twins Au, The Early Years [1]
Category: Star Trek: Alternate Original Series (Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Blood and Violence, Child Abuse, Child Neglect, Gender-neutral Reader, Genius James T. Kirk, Kelvin Timeline (Star Trek), Kid James T. Kirk, Kid reader, Mentions of Death, Mentions of Suicide, POV Second Person, genius reader
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-25
Updated: 2020-12-27
Packaged: 2021-03-10 01:15:16
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,354
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27715304
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CottonCandyCloud142/pseuds/CottonCandyCloud142
Summary: In a world, where everything went perfectly... This fic does not take place.The universe has screwed over the Kirk siblings in many, many universes. This is the story of one such universe.Sam, Jim and (Y/N) are in a race to survive.The twins want to stay hand in hand, them against the universe.Sam wants to rage until there is nothing left to hurt his siblings.And the Universe? Well, who knows the motivations of the universe.
Series: Twins Au, The Early Years [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2027132
Kudos: 7





	1. Chapter 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please heed the tags!

It was… unexpected. They had predictions, now. For pregnancies and their outcomes. Medicine in the twenty-third century had greatly improved since the third world war. 

So it was quite a big surprise when James T. Kirk was born almost a month early aboard a Starfleet escape shuttle. But it was an even bigger surprise when _you_ were born, about ten minutes later. 

_[Though, in many universes, that didn’t happen. Jim was born. You were a stillbirth, or an undeveloped fetus. In some cases, you hadn't existed even that much.]_

You both needed immediate medical attention. The doctors were certain one of you wouldn’t survive the first two days. They were wrong. 

Well. They almost weren’t. The shuttles were picked up by another Starfleet vessel with better supplies. It was close, but you were both placed in neonatal intensive care. An hour's delay could have been the end of both of you. But you both laid in those tiny containers, monitors and IVs and equipment strewn around you, alive. 

Two weeks later, the ship docked at Earth, and Winona (not mom, never mom,) took both of you home. 

She refused counseling. That should have been the first sign something was up. 

But Starfleet was more concerned with the destruction of their ship and the new legacy ( _your_ legacy, your concern) than whatever was going on inside her house. Not her home. That died when your father did. 

Sam (Winona had nearly burst into tears when she heard someone call him George) had been staying with some family friends. He looked down at an infant you, confused. 

“You said there was one.” He looked into his mother’s eyes. “Why are there two?”

She sighed. “I don’t know, Sammy. I don’t know.” 

Jim chose that moment to start crying, prompting you to do the same. It had been hours since either of you had eaten. Winona let out something between a groan and a sigh. She hadn’t wanted a second kid, let alone a third. James had been unplanned. You? A burden. She hadn’t even named you. One of the nurses had. (Sam told you this, later, when you were old enough to hold a grudge.)

“(Y/N) Andromeda Kirk,” she had said, holding a tiny, swaddled you in her arms. “There are stars in those eyes.” 

Winona hadn’t even thanked her. Just took you and James and left. 

Nearly a month after bringing you home, she left for the stars again. Sam pouted but didn’t try to get her to stay. She said she would be back in six months, and that was much shorter than her last mission with George.

She ended up being gone for two years. 

* * *

You were six months. Sam was four years old. Usually, that would mean he had a greater grasp of how the world worked. However, seeing as he had still not found the PADD you took from him, that inference might need to be reevaluated. 

Jimmy giggled behind you, swiping on the PADD underneath a blanket fort. He had no idea what it said, but it flashed when he hit the buttons. 

He pressed a larger button, and the sound of a bell emanated from the PADD. You smiled at him. 

“Thora!” Sam shouted. 

“One second, child,” she said from the other room. Sam crossed his arms and flopped onto the couch. 

“But they took my PADD,” he muttered. 

An Andorian woman walked through the doorway, sitting on the couch next to Sam. “Would you like me to get it back for you?” Sam nodded, keeping his gaze down. Thora stood and made for the kitchen. 

“James! (Y/N)!” You looked at Jimmy and made grabby motions for the PADD. He passed it to you, fumbling slightly under its size and weight. 

You pushed the PADD across the floor, crawling along after it. When you saw Thora’s shoes, you pushed yourself up, using the wall as a railing. Thora clapped when you stood, scooping you up in a hug when you began to lose your balance. She picked up the PADD in her other hand and gave it to Sam, who promptly raced up the stairs. 

“Now, where is James?” She asked, in a faux-innocent tone. “I cannot find him anywhere.” He giggled from underneath the blanket in the kitchen. 

“Oh well,” she sighed. “I did have a present for him, but if he isn’t here….” Jim squealed and threw the blanket off, crawling as fast as he could into the living room. He sat by the end of the couch, babbling as if to say “I’m here!” 

You frowned. You wanted a present too! You tugged on Thora’s sleeve with questioning eyes. She laughed. “Oh, of course, I have one for you.” 

Thora set you both on the couch, then pulled a bag from under the throw pillow. Jim let out a tiny gasp, and you stared in wonder. How had she made that appear from nowhere? 

She reached in, pulling out a small container. Inside were a few small things that looked brown. Opening the container, Thora broke off a small piece and placed it into Jim’s mouth. Then, she placed another into yours.

You nearly squeaked, it was delicious! So sweet. A little fruity, like the applesauce Sam had given you the other day. It melted in your mouth, and you sank back into the couch. 

Jim whined from next to you. You tilted your head to look at him. Then the burning sensation started.

You whined, soundlessly. It _hurt._ Why did it hurt? Thora was moving next to you, but you couldn't focus on anything other than your burning mouth. She scooped both you and Jim into her arms and dashed out the door. Sam was with you too, running alongside Thora. Where were you going? And why wouldn’t the burning stop?

The building ahead of you was big. And white. There was a man inside, who guided Thora and Sam farther in. 

_[Once, in another universe, you had gone blue. Jim was too young to understand why you didn’t move. He never forgot about you. Sam understood though. Thora brought him to her therapy sessions. Winona’s carelessness stung.]_

A few minutes of nothing but Jim’s whines and Thora’s gentle shushings later, something stabbed you! It didn’t hurt as much as the burning did. A few seconds later, it stopped. You leaned back into Thora’s arms, barely listening to the conversation over your head. 

“Allergies? That was much more severe….”

“Yes, you’ll need to take epi-injections with you….”

“ _How_ long until you can fix it?”

“They’re too young….” 

You won’t remember any of this, of course. Six-month-olds have horrible memories. 

Sam, though. He would remember some of it. And Thora would as well. They would be extremely careful in what they fed you in the future. 

You weren’t sure if Winona ever knew about this. She probably didn’t care. 

* * *

Talking had clicked for Jim a bit faster than it had for you. But that was okay. You didn’t like being as loud as he was anyway. He shouted and laughed and stomped on the stairs while you were content to trail along after him. 

Besides, you learned to read first. Before Sam, even! But you couldn’t speak, so you had no way to tell anyone. For a while, anyway.

Thora had started teaching you sign language so you could still communicate. Jim worked on his signing along with his pronunciation. Sam was right on par with him, still stumbling over the more delicate movements.

Jim found out you could read when he saw you looking over Sam’s baby books. The ones your dad had bought for him. 

_“What you doing?_ ” he signed.

“ _Reading,_ ” you signed back. He mouthed the word to himself before sitting down next to you, peering over your shoulder.

“Can you… tra- tranth-late?” He frowned. That wasn’t the right way to pronounce it. 

You nodded. “ _There were five ladybugs,_ ” you signed. “ _And they all went on an adventure._ ” You signed most of the story to Jim, leaving out words you didn’t know how to sign and ones you would have to explain to him. 

Thora found you, almost an hour later. “What are you doing?” She signed along with her words. 

Jim grinned. “They’re reading to me!” 

Thora turned to you, one eyebrow raised in a very un-Andorian expression. “You know how to read?” You nodded. Was that supposed to be a big deal? You had just looked over Sam’s alphabet strip until it started making sense. 

She smiled. “Would you like me to read to both of you?” You and Jim nodded furiously. Thora took a book from the shelf titled “ _The Very Hungry Caterpillar_ ” and started to read. 

A few minutes later, Sam came in. He sat down between you and Jim, looking up at Thora with wide eyes. 

Thora only smiled and turned the book so he could see the pictures. 

Life was good. 

* * *

Your first (well, technically second. You and Jim had slept through your first one, as young as you were.) Halloween was _awesome_ . It was officially your favorite holiday. Thora took the four of you to a costume shop and you tried on _everything_. 

Sam eventually decided on a werewolf costume. Jim had considered a Starfleet uniform, but quickly reconsidered after the look he saw on Thora’s face.

He found a set of matching costumes from one of your favorite books and grinned at you. You walked out of there in style, clutching matching pumpkin buckets. 

Thora dropped Sam off to trick-or-treat with some of his friends, promising to come and pick him up a few hours later. They had her comm information, so he would be fine. She took the two of you to every house with their lights on. 

No one even minded when you couldn’t say trick or treat! 

At the end, you had a big bucket full of candy that you thought you couldn’t eat. At least, until Thora pulled a list up on her PADD of your and Jim’s known allergies and started cross-referencing with the ingredients in the candy. It took over an hour, but you and Jim were tired anyway. You both took a nap before you had to pick up Sam. 

When you came back downstairs, the buckets were labeled with your names and initials. 

You picked up Sam, and he told you a scary story about the bushes outside the house coming alive. Jim grinned and threw a piece of candy to him. 

Thora helped him sort through his candy, taking what he didn’t want and putting it in a bowl out front with the things neither you nor Jim could eat. Straggling trick or treaters would be happy about that, for sure.

“Thora?” You asked quietly. 

She smiled, as always. “Yes, my child?”

You concentrated hard on getting the words out right. “Do… do Andor-ans have Hallowe’en?” She chuckled.

“No, we don’t. But a friend of mine introduced me to the tradition. It’s my favorite Terran holiday.” Jim grinned, and you smiled at them both. 

“Ours too,” you both said. 


	2. Chapter 2

You didn’t celebrate your second birthday. Jim didn’t ask why, though he did frown when Sam asked why there wasn’t a party. Thora was teary-eyed. She let you and Jim and Sam use her PADD to do whatever you wanted on the kid-friendly sites. 

Jim watched her curiously as she left the room. You looked down at the PADD the second she disappeared from your view, a good bit sooner than when she left Jim’s. 

You scrolled through a few websites, easily typing in the code to unlock all the grown-up stuff. Looking up, you smiled at Jim, whose eyes had not left the door Thora had left through. You tugged on his sleeve and propped the PADD halfway into his lap. 

Sam had gone upstairs to use another PADD. It wasn’t his, just something Winona had around the house. It might have been your dad’s. 

Jim scrolled absentmindedly, and you pulled his hand off the screen when you saw something interesting. 

He pulled the PADD up to his face, squinting at the letters. “Fran-cays? Wha’ that?” You clicked on the audio button, listening to the unfamiliar word. 

It sounded nothing like the Spanish you heard in the Doctor’s office. You couldn’t speak more than a sentence of it, but it sounded pretty. This sounded… flowery. Frilly, like the puffed-up dress Thora had shown you in a store window. 

You clicked on the search bar and typed in “how to learn Francais.” You couldn’t get the squiggly thing the website had on the letter c, so you left it. 

Several things popped up. Jim tapped on the first one and started reading through. You followed right behind him. He glanced at you when he finished the page, to make sure you had finished as well. When the audio files popped up, you clicked on them faster than you had clicked search. 

Okay, you understood next to nothing of it, but the phrases had an English translation that you did understand. 

Once, you asked Thora what other languages she spoke after you overheard a comm call. You hadn’t heard most of the sounds before, let alone understood the words!

She told you about Standard, the ‘universal’ language. She said you might learn it one day when you were older. 

Maybe, if you and Jim could show you knew Francais, she would let you learn it early! You were older now, and knowing two languages would surely be enough to learn a third!

You and Jim zipped through the rest of what the website had to offer and moved onto the next one. It looked like a school website of some sort. There were links to worksheets and things you could fill out. Unfortunately, you and Jim couldn’t write yet. 

Jim sighed and bookmarked the site. “Write first or look for more?”

It was a tough choice. Writing would let you learn this specific part of the language, and you did want to learn. But you would need to know how to write in English first, which would take time. Searching for more audio files would be easier. But you might not have the chance to look at these files again! Thora would take her PADD and put it where you couldn’t reach it when you were in bed that night. 

You opened your mouth, then paused. You still weren’t good at saying long sentences. And this was a long one. 

“ _ Can we move the files into the face in our room so we can keep them? _ ” You signed. It was called an interface, but you didn't know the sign for that. Jimmy would understand you. He always did. 

He nodded. “Yep. Juth gotta download them to the houthe file. We can put them into that thecret one mom doesn’t know about and upload them to our thpot from there.” You smiled, stood up, and started for the stairs. He grinned and met you at the bottom. “Rathe ya!”   
  


He bolted up on all fours, and you weren't far behind. Maybe half a second. Jim pretty much always won, but you weren’t mad. You were the smaller twin, it was kind of expected. 

And you were also carrying the PADD, so.

Jim closed the door to your room behind you and sat on the lower bunk. Downloading and uploading everything was easy. Learning how to write, not so much. 

You searched it up, then practiced the motions shown on the screen. Jim copied the videos, and before long you could each passably write your own name. But there would be plenty of time to work on that later. Sam had told you and Jim that he had to write for school sometimes. You could always learn then. 

Writing later, more Francais first. 

(The next thing you learned was that the word for it in English was French. Why couldn’t each language just call the other language what it already called itself instead of making up something new? Sam was confused when you brought it up later.)

* * *

A month and a half later, Winona came home. 

“MOM!” Sam shouted, running out into the driveway. She smiled and hugged him. 

“Oh, Sammy, I missed you so much.” She kissed the top of his head. “Have you been good? How is school? Does Thora treat you well?” Sam smiled and answered the questions in the same rapid-fire way they were asked. 

When Thora finally caught up to him, panting slightly, Winona told her to take the week off. 

“Are you sure? I haven’t finished the refresher cycle yet, I’d be happy to take care of that first.” Winona shook her head.

“No, it’s alright. I plan on staying for a while this time.” She ruffled Sam’s hair. “I’ll tell you if I need anything, alright?” Thora nodded.

“Alright. Have fun.” She waved to both Winona and Sam before walking away, adjusting her comm in time with her steps. 

You didn’t know it yet, but that was the last time you would ever see her. 

Jim held your hand, gently pulling you to the front door to see your mother. You wanted to tell him to hide upstairs but couldn’t get the words out. Talking was always harder when you were worried. 

His eyes lit up when the front door opened. “Mommy?” he asked. 

Winona’s face fell. 

“Upstairs,” she snapped. You didn’t have to be told twice. Jim’s hand was still in yours, so you were able to drag him closer to the staircase before he let go. 

You hesitated, but one sharp look from Winona sent you scrambling up the wooden steps. 

“Mom?” Jim whispered. 

“Come on, Sammy.” She led him into the kitchen. “What do you want for dinner? I’ll make you anything.” Sam beamed.  _ Finally _ ,  _ he  _ was the one getting special attention. Not you, not Jim, not some remnant of George. Just Sam and Winona.

Jim sniffled and crawled up the stairs. When he got into your shared room, he saw a newly constructed blanket fort. 

You opened your arms for a hug, and he crashed into them. Tears fell into your shirt, and you just hugged him tighter. You started humming the tune to a song on one of the downloaded audio files you were using to learn french. 

It took several more minutes, but he calmed down and wiped at his eyes.

“Why?” he asked, in a near whisper. You had almost forgotten that Jim had trouble with his words too. Especially when he was emotional. 

“I think,” you started. “You remind her of dad.” 

“And that…” he trailed off. “Bad?” There was the whisper again.

“No,” you said quietly. “She thinks so. But s’not. You aren’t bad.” Jim sniffled into your shoulder. In moments like this, you could almost forget he was older. 

Winona didn’t let you back downstairs until the morning. You went to bed hungry for the first time in two years.

It wouldn’t be the last time.

* * *

She lasted barely two months before taking another assignment. 

“Why do you have to go so soon mommy?” Sam was nearly in tears. He wasn't ready to lose his mom again. This was the third time. What if she didn't come back, like dad? He couldn't lose her too. 

She hugged him. “Oh, sweetie, it's okay. I'll be back soon. You won't even miss me.”

Sam sniffled and looked up at her. “Really?” 

Winona smiled. “Really.”

Before she left, there was something ‘important’ that you needed to understand.

“Sam,” she said, as always only addressing her favorite child, “this is Frank. Your Step-father.” 

You mentally recounted what that meant. ‘Step,’ meaning non-related. But he was your-- no, Sam’s --new father figure. 

“Be good for him, okay? And Frank, you be good to Sam.” Frank eyed you and Jim in a way you really didn’t like. You took his tiny hand in yours, and he squeezed it to reassure you. 

But Frank agreed with Winona. To be good to Sam. 

Oh boy. If only she knew how long that promise lasted. It wasn't nearly long enough. 


End file.
